The beginning of Gundam 0083 is as good as it gets. It has about as much action, drama, romance, and humor that could possibly fit in 80 minutes. It has everything you'd expect in a mecha anime, minus the typical cheesy and unfulfilling plot.

Stardust Memory begins in Australia, where Gundams (mobile suits) GP01 and GP02A have arrived at Torrington (a Federation base) for testing. The war with Zeon has been over for 3 years, and any remaining forces are scattered. Arriving at Torrington with the Gundams is the foxy Nina Purpleton, a system engineer for Anaheim Electronics, the company that created the two Gundam prototypes. As part of the testing, a nuclear weapon is loaded in Gundam GP02A. By this point, you can pretty much tell where this story is going. The Delaz fleet, a remnant of Zeon, commences operation Stardust, in which Major Anavel Gato steals Gundam GP02A. Kou Uraki, an inexperienced test pilot, hops into GP01 to pursue. Though no match for Gato, Uraki performs exceptionally well in the new Gundam. The first volume of Gundam 0083 details the escape of Gato and the pursuit by the Federation. Nina aids in the pursuit to get her company's Gundam back. If Operation Stardust is successful, Zeon would have a new hope for defeating the Feds.

The story follows Uraki as he is forced to cope with what he sees, and must learn to survive in real combat. While it doesn't get very many points for originality, it does get mad props for entertainment and suspense. This story is exciting, and leaves you wanting more. There is also plenty of humor, as the exchanges between soldiers were at times hilarious. The possibility of a romance between Nina and Kou exists also, but it has no bearing on the story at this point.

Ensign Kou Uraki. He jumps in Unit 1 without permission to pursue the stolen Unit 2.	Anavel Gato. He pilots the stolen Unit 2 in an attempt to restore Zeon to glory.

The animation for Gundam 0083 is excellent, even by today's standards. It is perhaps a bit darker than it should be, but that's the only noticable issue. The character designs for the show are nothing special, but fairly decent. The voice acting on the Japanese track is overdramatic, but otherwise pretty good. The English dub is, to put it bluntly, not very good. The support voices weren't too badly done, but the main characters' voices could have used some work to be more believable. Then again, it's a lot like all cartoon voices were in America in the 80s.

The music is the show's only low point. None of it is outright bad, but most is extremely cheesy. For those who like cheesy 80s dance music, this show is for you. The opening song has this flavor. The ending theme is even worse, sporting an 80s R&B love song style, which doesn't fit the show at all, and is pretty bad on its own. The sound quality on the disc is superb, both for the music and the sound effects.

The packaging for Vol.1 is fairly nice, sporting a picture of the main characters. The insert for the DVD shows a chronology for Gundam history buffs. Extras on the disc include a mobile suit encyclopedia, a textless opening and ending sequence, and trailers for 4 Bandai distributed shows.

So far, Gundam 0083 has me hooked. I can't wait to see more.

Distributor: Bandai
Creator: Sunrise
Released: 1991

Video Quality: A-
Audio Quality: A-
Presentation: B+
Content: A
Overall: A-